Eleventh Grade Burns(33)

As Vlad turned to walk away, he felt his body stiffen. Before he knew what was happening, he turned to face Dorian again ... but not of his own free will.

Dorian nodded apologetically. “I am sorry, but you do force my hand.”

Against his will, Vlad moved closer, bending his head to the side, beckoning Dorian to drain his veins dry. Dorian’s fangs slipped from his gums, ready, eager to partake, his eyes locked on the throbbing blue vein on Vlad’s neck.

Inside Vlad’s skull, Vlad ranted, raved, screamed, but there was nothing he could do to stop this moment from happening.

To his left, there was the familiar squeak of the club door, followed by October’s voice. “What’s taking you so long?”

Without a word, Dorian released his mental grip and stepped back. Strangely, he looked almost as relieved as Vlad felt. He moved down the street, disappearing into the night, but not before his voice echoed in Vlad’s mind. “That girl just saved you. She saved us both.”

Vlad’s hands were shaking. That was close. Too close. And what had Dorian meant, saved them both? He wasn’t the one in danger of being drained here.

He turned back to October, who had a sharp eyebrow raised. “Who was that?”

Vlad rubbed absently at his neck, wondering silently what the look in Dorian’s eyes, what the words in Vlad’s mind, had meant. “Nobody. It was nobody.”





13





OUTSPOKEN ENEMIES


VLAD CHEWED A BITE of his peanut butter, jelly, and blood-capsule sandwich and swallowed, but it didn’t go down easy. He couldn’t stop watching the exchange that was happening two tables over and wishing like crazy that he had some kind of supersensitive hearing. Unfortunately, vampires were nothing at all like superheroes. So Vlad watched, trying to learn on the spot how to read lips and failing miserably.

He kept fighting back yawns, completely exhausted by his recent training sessions with Vikas, who had promised him that they would only get more difficult. Not to mention how much sleep he’d been losing since his encounter with both D’Ablo and Dorian two weeks before.

After a few more seconds of squinting at Joss’s moving lips, he almost smacked himself in the forehead, wondering how exactly a vampire momentarily forgets about that whole mind-reading thing. He laid his head on the table and closed his eyes, slipping stealthily into Joss’s head, content to linger long enough to learn what Joss and Eddie were discussing.

Joss’s head hurt. He was tense and anxious, but not uncertain in the least. He was doing the right thing ... for the good of mankind.

Vlad rolled his eyes. Whatever you gotta tell yourself to sleep through the night, Joss.

Eddie’s voice came out in a breath. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I can. I knew he was a vampire, but I had no idea you knew. Who else knows?”

A picture of Henry popped into Joss’s thoughts, but he couldn’t out his cousin, couldn’t endanger Henry’s life because he was being stupid and reckless ... and was likely under Vlad’s control. “Just us. And we have to keep it that way.”

“So what do we do? I mean, he has to be stopped. And ... I want proof to show people.”

Joss raised an eyebrow. “You don’t believe me?”

Eddie leaned forward, excitement in his tone. “No, I believe you. But I want the newspapers to believe me. I want the television programs to believe me.”

“You want to be famous for proving to the world that vampires exist?”

“Yes.”

Joss tightened his jaw, disgusted. If Eddie weren’t proving to be useful, he’d walk away from this conversation and deny it had ever taken place. But he did seem to be of use, which is why Joss had confided in him in the first place. Joss wet his lips and a lie escaped his mouth. “Give me time, and I’ll make you more famous than you have ever dreamed.”

Eddie sat back, looking more than a little pleased. He shook his head and chuckled. “I’m glad nobody’s listening to us talk. They’d think we were both crazy whack-jobs.”

Vlad pulled out of Joss’s thoughts, sat up, and chuckled. At the same time, Joss looked at him and pursed his lips. The look in his eyes said he knew Vlad had been listening, even if he wasn’t entirely sure how. Vlad smiled pleasantly and waved.

It wasn’t that he was happy about what he’d overheard, but at some point, his sanity was bound to break at the ridiculousness that was his life. Why not now?